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Nonetheless, she exhibited in the UK and Europe, developing the
individual slab-built black-and-white forms for which she became known.
The forms were organic, often wave-like, with fine edges. Some had
impressed plant decoration and were rubbed and sponged with ceramic
stains. Work of this nature was reproduced in Peter Lane's book Contemporary
Porcelain in 1995. Elegant winged forms were developed and made in
sculptural groups, usually of three sizes. However, the medium had its
problems; they were not translucent enough and built works fired at high
temperatures are prone to splitting, so a search was on for a new medium. In 1991 she attended a short slip-casting course in France, studying under Sasha Wardell. Requested to bring a piece to cast, she took a small winged form (now known as Lily) to make a three-piece mould. The first cast of bone china was a revelation for Mellor and prompted her to reduce her teaching load to three days a week and embark upon her ceramic work in earnest. She writes: 'It was the ultimate whiteness, thinness and translucency of bone china, a close relative of porcelain, that attracted me to experiment with slip-cast forms. I find the tactile quality of bone china very appealing and its marble-like surface has a warm sensuality about it. Slip-casting allows me to make ultra-thin shapes which are extremely translucent, pure and so white that ordinary porcelain seems almost grey in comparison.' Bone china cannot be thrown on a wheel, so more mould-making workshops were undertaken at Brunel University in 1993 and at Staffordshire University in 1994. If round forms are required, moulds have to be turned, so Mellor purchased a lathe. Striking black-and-white flaring chalice forms poured into single-piece moulds are made this way. The decorative imagery, derived from a spider web, is obtained by drizzling a fine black slip inside the mould and when it is set pouring in the white slip. The result is a striking and unique piece. Mellor became a professional member of the Craftsmen Potters' Association of Great Britain. her work was progressing well, she had learnt to alter the forms and manipulate the changes which occur in bone china in a heated kiln and she was exhibiting these in Europe when her sons set off to see the world and caused a chain reaction which brought her to Australia. For Christmas, 1993 she flew to Bali to join her boys. The tropical vegetation fascinated her. The exotic colours remained in her memory and produced the hues on the succulent wing-lily forms exhibited in Europe in 1995. More importantly, on the flight back home she met her future husband and a year later flew out to Perth to join him - bringing with her 'a couple of gallons' of bone china slip. Bone china has an unusual characteristics in that, if setters are not used, it warps in the kiln in response to the heat and proximity to other forms. Each of the fine-edged lily forms deforms itself, if not already assisted by Mellor who encourages rim distortion and directs the process by filling the interior with alumina to avoid a pulling in or closing of the flower-like forms. The result has been a series of luscious pouting tropical flowers. |
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Coral
Reef, 1998, |
Angela Mellor, née Jackson, was born
in 1945 in Cheshire, England, to Sydney Jackson and his wife Rose, née
Dempsey. Her father died when she was one year old and so she grew up in
a single-parent household. Deciding to make education her career, she
undertook a teaching diploma in Art and Design at Manchester University,
graduating with distinction in 1968. A short-lived marriage to Michael
Mellor while still a student saw her commence her teaching career while
raising two boys. It was not until 1984 that she had time to return to
formal study, taking an advanced certificate in Education at the
University of East Anglia. By this time she was exhibiting ceramics and
studying with Peter Lane, the internationally-known author and potter.
Teaching, however, remained her profession until 1991. Following an
inspiring slip-casting workshop with English potter Sasha Wardell, in
which she found her métier, Mellor reduced her teaching load to
three days a week and made the transition to artist potter. Success soon
followed with inclusion in exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum
in London and other prestigious venues in Europe. Mellor's ceramic work had developed gradually as teaching was her major career. Exhibiting did not really commence until 1979, after she joined the Midland Potters' Association in Staffordshire. The early work was hand-build stoneware, organic in form. Tree trunks, fern fronds and lilies were the main inspiration. These works were sawdust fired. Glazes did not interest her. The walls were as thin as the medium allowed, but she was not satisfied. An admirer of the tactile surfaces of Mary Rogers' work, she strove for the same delicacy. This led her to the work of Peter Lane and while studying with him she was captivated by the translucency of porcelain. Years of experimentation followed. Teaching at the Leys School in Cambridge from 1986-94 saw only a small amount of time available for her art. |
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